Sports Extra

NEW YORK – The 49ers-Seahawks game that could decide the NFC West is moving to prime time.

The NFL said Monday that San Francisco’s matchup with Seattle on Dec. 23 would be on NBC’s “Sunday Night Football.”

The San Diego Chargers and New York Jets were originally in that slot, but both teams have losing records.

Starting in Week 11, the league’s flexible scheduling policy allows it to move a more appealing game to Sunday night. This is the first time this season a switch has been made.

The 49ers are 9-3-1 heading into their trip to New England for the first of what will be two consecutive Sunday night appearances. The Seahawks are 8-5 and play Buffalo in Toronto this weekend.

Another matchup with major playoff implications, Giants-Ravens, shifts to 2:25 p.m. MST on Fox in Week 16.

The Chargers-Jets game moves to 11 a.m. on CBS.

49ers suspend Jacobs after critical social media posts

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The San Francisco 49ers have suspended running back Brandon Jacobs for the final three games following a series of posts on social media sites addressing his lack of playing time, including one during the weekend saying he was “on this team rotting away.”

The 49ers said Monday, about two hours after coach Jim Harbaugh’s news conference, that Jacobs had been disciplined.

Jacobs became increasingly verbal in his frustration via social media during the weekend over a lack of playing time.

Harbaugh declined to address Jacobs’ comments, even when asked whether Jacobs is still on the team. He said he was invoking his “fifth amendment” right.

The 30-year-old Jacobs has five carries for 7 yards while being active for only two games with the NFC West-leading Niners (9-3-1). He spent his first seven NFL seasons with the New York Giants and has called this his “worst” year.

nhl

NHL eliminates games through end of 2012

NEW YORK – The NHL eliminated 16 more days from the regular-season schedule Monday, and if a deal with the players’ association isn’t reached soon the whole season could be lost.

The league wiped out all games through Dec. 30 in its latest round of cancellations.

Already, 422 regular-season games had been called off through Dec. 14 because of the lockout, and the latest cuts on Day 86 of the NHL shutdown claimed 104 more. The New Year’s Day Winter Classic and the All-Star game were canceled earlier.

In all, the 526 lost games account for nearly 43 percent of the regular season that was scheduled to begin Oct. 11.

sports business

Expanding Nike seeking tax assurance in Oregon

SALEM, Ore. – Athletic footwear and apparel giant Nike Inc. plans to expand its operations in Oregon and hire hundreds of workers but wants the government to promise it won’t change the state tax code, prompting a special session of the Oregon Legislature.

Gov. John Kitzhaber said he’ll call lawmakers together Friday in Salem to create a new law authorizing him to grant Nike’s wish.

The company has not specified its expansion plans except to say it would create at least 500 jobs and $150 million in capital investment over five years.

The Legislature is due to meet in its regular annual session beginning Jan. 14, but Kitzhaber said Nike needed certainty sooner.

The company was being wooed by other states, he said.

“Getting Oregonians back to work is my top priority,” Kitzhaber said in a news conference.

Nike Inc. employs 44,000 people globally, including 8,000 in Washington County, home to its world headquarters in the Portland suburb of Beaverton.